Question for females or a doctor

CuddleBunnie_NZ
CuddleBunnie_NZ Posts: 3 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
Can the depo injection cause no weight loss? I have taken out all junk food, fast food. Sugar treats. Lowered portions. I drink tea or water. But my weight wont budge. Ive just started calorie counting to see and i seem to be ok. Ive joindd the gym this week weights one day cardio the next. Sorry if this is a silly question i just dont know what else i can do.

Replies

  • scrapbookingtm
    scrapbookingtm Posts: 1,916 Member
    Depo-Provera can cause a number of side effects, including:

    Irregular menstrual periods, or no periods at all
    Headaches
    Nervousness
    Depression
    Dizziness
    Acne
    Changes in appetite
    Weight gain
    Excessive growth of facial and body hair
    Hair loss
    Loss of bone mineral density
  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    Hormones can impact appetite and energy, but CICO doesn't change. You may be retaining water due to the injection, but it will not prevent you from losing fat.

    There are some stickies at the top about how to weigh food and measure accurately. Read those, they rock.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Just eat less calories than you burn
    Do this by weighing ALL your solid food on a food scale and logging it ( counting)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    When you dont lose weight now you eat more than you think.
  • hevarrrrr
    hevarrrrr Posts: 8 Member
    any pop hormones affect me really basly. i get spotty, gain weight and crave sugar like there is no end in sight!

    so i have to have a combined method! however for a year i've had a copper coil and am losing weight better than i ever have! am sure it's because it's non-hormonal.

    my views are only personal but i am shocked about how hormones can affect you! the only thing to remember about the depo is that it took about 6 months for me to feel normal again.
  • kaseyr1505
    kaseyr1505 Posts: 624 Member
    edited May 2015
    Excess calories cause weight gain. Some medications can make people feel hungrier, so if you don't count calories, you will gain weight. Some also cause you to retain water, which will up the number on the scale.

    But no, the medication will not cause you to gain weight alone. It doesn't matter how many stories people tell about how they are a special snowflake and gained weight when they started it. Too many calories = weight gain. It's physics. You can argue with science, but the magical thing about that is you'll still be wrong, and the fact will still stand.

    Many people do not calorie count, and gain weight during drug trials. They report it, and then it has to be listed as a side effect. I have done a few drug trials for lupus. Each time I went in, I had to report new symptoms, and those symptoms would end up as a side effect.


    ETA You aren't losing weight because you are eating too much. It doesn't exactly matter what you eat, just how much. Get a food scale, measure out portions accurately.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    CuddleBunnie_NZ wrote: »
    Can the depo injection cause no weight loss? I have taken out all junk food, fast food. Sugar treats. Lowered portions. I drink tea or water. But my weight wont budge. Ive just started calorie counting to see and i seem to be ok. Ive joindd the gym this week weights one day cardio the next. Sorry if this is a silly question i just dont know what else i can do.

    Things that are more likely to be causing scale weight gain are change up in exercise, sodium and hormones around ovulation and period when calorie counting in a defecit

    Weigh and log your food and keep going ...give it a couple of months then check weight loss against goal weight loss and reassess calories
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
    My doctor told me the #1 side effect was weight gain. No thanks. I also had a bad experience with birth control in general that I took the pill (5 kinds!) and gained 40# and could NOT lose it!! Threw it in the garbage! Lost it eventually but was much faster to gain then lose. I went on again for cramps, gained it all back and have not been as resilient later in life.
  • stephanieluvspb
    stephanieluvspb Posts: 997 Member
    I've been on it for 6 months because my body hate oral BC pills. I love it but I have noticed I am hungrier at times, but I just eat low calories food in high volumes and keep within my macros ;) My weight loss has not stalled yet. Different meds affect people different ways, but it will always be CICO.
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
    I was on depo for 5 years. I was able to gain weight, lose it, gain it again, lose it again, and finally gain. I switched to Mirena because depo isn't recommended for more than 2 years use (due to bone density loss). I'm able to lose on Mirena as well. Depo is a huge surge of hormones so it can increase your appetite, thus leading to weight gain. CICO still applies though.
  • CuddleBunnie_NZ
    CuddleBunnie_NZ Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you all for your help
  • msflynnbly
    msflynnbly Posts: 46 Member
    Wow thank you for this. Ive been on depo for well over two years! Is Mirena the injection too? R u in the uk? Will defo have a word with the nurse! X
  • msflynnbly
    msflynnbly Posts: 46 Member
    I also suffer with terrible flare ups of acne on my cheeks every so often. They are bright red too. Interesting.......
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
    Depo doesn't make you gain weight but it makes you ravenous. Everybody I've ever known gained 20 to 40 lbs on it. My nurse told me she alwayssss sees women gaining ugly amounts of weight on it. Skip it, go to Orals
  • eyeofnewt555
    eyeofnewt555 Posts: 47 Member
    When discussing long-term birth control methods with my obgyn, she didn't have much positive to say about depo, and mentioned that most of the women she see who go on it end up switching in a few months because of the side effects.

    I ended up going with a non-hormonal IUD (paragard) and I love it.

    Ignore everyone's semantics about "hormones don't cause weight gain, CICO does." A) hormones can directly cause significant water retention regardless of CICO, and B) Obviously unless you're a will power machine, having an increased appetite is going to make weight loss a lot harder. And it's hard enough as is.
  • yogi323
    yogi323 Posts: 56 Member
    A lot of girls I know that have gotten the depo shot has gained 5/10 pounds. I would chalk it up to increased appetite, so if you stick with you calorie limit you should be fine. My little sister has become a ravenous cavern since she started, so her weight gain is due to her eating more, not the birth control making her. Her gyno did tell her to expect about a five pound gain, but I'm chalking it up to appetite.
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
    mrsleak76 wrote: »
    Wow thank you for this. Ive been on depo for well over two years! Is Mirena the injection too? R u in the uk? Will defo have a word with the nurse! X

    Mirena is an intrauterine device that releases tiny amounts of progesterone into your uterus all the time. IUD's are becoming a lot more popular. I don't have a period with Mirena :) Paraguard is a non-hormonal copper IUD, but often increases bleeding/cramping. These may be called something else in the UK (just different names, same principles).
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
    eyeofnewt555 wrote: »

    Ignore everyone's semantics about "hormones don't cause weight gain, CICO does." A) hormones can directly cause significant water retention regardless of CICO, and B) Obviously unless you're a will power machine, having an increased appetite is going to make weight loss a lot harder. And it's hard enough as is.

    You contradicted yourself here. Yes, water retention is definitely a factor and is going to vary in severity from person to person, but as far as CICO goes, it still applies. If you are more hungry due to the hormones, you are likely to eat more = more calories in. When I was on depo and trying to lose weight, I was always thinking about food, but had the willpower to ignore it. Obviously that willpower did not last the entire time I was on it, or my weight would not have yo-yoed like it did.

    Believe me, I too was in denial that I was the cause of my weight gain. When I went in for my Mirena consultation I brought up difficulty losing weight and the doctor straight up told me that losing weight off the depo would probably be easier, but that it just came down to my diet. And she was 100% correct.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    my friend has been on depo for years and years and years and no weight issues.

    well, as she gets older she does, but thats more to do with her crappy eating habits (even by my standards) and little to likely nothing to do with her shot.
  • 85kurtz
    85kurtz Posts: 276 Member
    [quote="kaseyr1505;32349685

    But no, the medication will not cause you to gain weight alone. It doesn't matter how many stories people tell about how they are a special snowflake and gained weight when they started it. Too many calories = weight gain. It's physics. You can argue with science, but the magical thing about that is you'll still be wrong, and the fact will still stand. [/quote]

    I wonder where you get your "scientific" information from? Unless you are a fully qualified pharmacist, who keeps up to date with all drugs I don't believe you can comment on all meds. Particularly when most of your knowledge comes from being a guinea pig. In fact MANY drugs cause weight gain. Particularly meds that interrupt hormonal balance or serotonin/ dopamine. So before you be so damned snide, do a bit of reading.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    Depo is horrible! It caused ravenous appetite, extreme hair loss, me to get pcos, inability to concieve for years or have a period for 1 and a half years. Weight gain I wad unable to lose for years.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Medications can cause an increase in appetite. It still comes down to CICO.
  • eyeofnewt555
    eyeofnewt555 Posts: 47 Member
    cosmo_momo wrote: »
    eyeofnewt555 wrote: »

    Ignore everyone's semantics about "hormones don't cause weight gain, CICO does." A) hormones can directly cause significant water retention regardless of CICO, and B) Obviously unless you're a will power machine, having an increased appetite is going to make weight loss a lot harder. And it's hard enough as is.

    You contradicted yourself here. Yes, water retention is definitely a factor and is going to vary in severity from person to person, but as far as CICO goes, it still applies. If you are more hungry due to the hormones, you are likely to eat more = more calories in. When I was on depo and trying to lose weight, I was always thinking about food, but had the willpower to ignore it. Obviously that willpower did not last the entire time I was on it, or my weight would not have yo-yoed like it did.

    Believe me, I too was in denial that I was the cause of my weight gain. When I went in for my Mirena consultation I brought up difficulty losing weight and the doctor straight up told me that losing weight off the depo would probably be easier, but that it just came down to my diet. And she was 100% correct.

    Sorry I guess I worded that poorly. I know hormones can't manufacture calories and weight gain out of thin air, and that any weight gain (aside from water weight) is from a caloric surplus.

    I meant that when people just chant CICO as a response to things like this, it denies the importance that appetite plays in weight management. Yes, _if_ you stick to CICO and don't give in to cravings, the hormones won't affect your weight (ignoring water). But that's a big if. I won't say an increased appetite directly causes weight gain, but I don't think its effects should be downplayed and brushed under the rug either.

    It's like the adage "guns don't kill people, people kill people". Makes you wanna go "well yeah, _but_ the guns ain't helpin'"
This discussion has been closed.

Categories